News

Only numbers I trust coming out of DC are the mile markers on I-95 — new report says increasing tax will not affect gas prices New York Times (5/11/11) reports: Senate Democrats have a new weapon in their escalating oil and gasoline war with Republicans, though some party members are none too happy with their leadership’s offensive against the major oil companies…Trying to counter Republican claims that ending some tax breaks for the five largest oil companies would ultimately hurt consumers, Democrats are now armed with a Congressional Research Service report that predicts a negligible impact on the price of gasoline if the changes are carried out…The document, sent to Senator Harry Reid, the Nevada Democrat and majority leader, said that with the cost of oil over $100 per barrel, “prices are well in excess of costs, and a small increase in taxes would be less likely to reduce oil output, and hence increase petroleum product (gasoline) prices.”…In a review of the five specific tax changes being advocated by Democrats, the research service also said that tightening the tax code would make a very small dent in the huge revenues of the industry and that the price of oil hinged on many other, larger considerations.

The oil tax increase was summed up by Sen. Landrieu in a word — “laughable” The Hill Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) called the Democratic plan to scrap tax breaks for the big five oil producers to pay down the deficit “laughable” and derided states that complain about gas prices while producing no energy themselves…“I see what our states produce and these people produce nothing, or virtually nothing — and you ask me can I vote for a bill like this?” asked Landrieu from Senate the floor on Wednesday, comparing the major energy-producing states with non-energy producing states…“No,” said Landrieu, answering her own question. “Not only can I not vote for it. It’s laughable.”…The Democrats’ plan, which may come to the floor this week, was authored by Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.). It would require oil companies to pay taxes for drilling on federal land and remove tax deductions for companies that drill in foreign countries. In all, it would raise about $20 billion, which would be directed toward deficit reduction….Louisiana is one of the highest energy-producing states in the nation and Landrieu argued that the Gulf’s oil industry would be adversely affected by the scrapping of the tax incentives.

Hallelujah! A permit for deep water exploration has been approved Wall Street Journal (5/11/11) reports: The U.S. approved a Royal Dutch Shell PLC plan to drill for oil in five locations deep under the Gulf of Mexico…The Shell proposal is the second deep-water exploration plan approved in the Gulf since the U.S. government lifted a moratorium on deep-water drilling in October. The moratorium was imposed following the BP PLC oil spill in April 2010. At least six other deep-water plans are pending for the Gulf…Companies apply for permits to drill after receiving approval for an exploration plan…The Shell plan approved Wednesday, for the so-called Appomattox discovery, includes five wells in about 7,200 feet of water roughly 72 miles, or 116 kilometers, off the Louisiana coast. Shell runs the Appomattox venture and holds an 80% stake. Nexen Inc. holds the remaining 20%…U.S. regulators assessed the plan and determined it met new safety standards instituted after the Gulf oil spill last year. The drilling “would not have a significant impact on the quality of the human environment,” according to a press release from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation, and Enforcement…Marvin Odum, president of Shell’s U.S. subsidiary, said the company was “pleased” with the news.

Get ‘er done! House passes a bill that will force Dept. of Interior to act on permit applications within 60 days New York Times (5/11/11) reports: Maneuvering on oil drilling, gas prices and industry profits intensified on Capitol Hill on Wednesday. House Republicans pushed through a bill to accelerate offshore oil and gas exploration as Democrats vowed action on measures to rescind billions of dollars in tax breaks for major oil and gas companies… The drilling bill was approved 263 to 163, with 28 Democrats joining unanimous Republicans, after the majority swatted down several Democratic amendments. The bill would force the Interior Department to act within 60 days on all applications for offshore drilling permits. The House then turned to a second Republican-sponsored bill that would open much of the Atlantic, Pacific and Arctic shorelines to new oil and gas exploration. A vote on that measure is expected Thursday…The Obama administration vigorously opposed both measures, but stopped short of threatening to veto them — in part because it is highly unlikely they will win enough votes in the Senate to overcome a filibuster…Meanwhile, House and Senate Democrats continued their push to repeal a variety of tax breaks enjoyed by the oil industry, some of them a century old and others that apply to all companies, not just petroleum concerns.

My favorite part?  “Four Republicans crossed the aisle to vote for the earlier motion to remain in the program.”  Because what is the point of owning a plantation if you don’t have house slaves? E&E News (5/11/11) reports: The New Hampshire Senate voted today to keep the state in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a cap-and-trade program that many member states are trying to align with U.S. EPA’s new standards for carbon dioxide from the power sector…Earlier this year, the New Hampshire House of Representatives passed a bill that would withdraw the state from the program, which includes all of New England as well as New York, New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland. But the bill had drawn a veto threat from Gov. John Lynch (D), and the Senate lacked the votes to overcome it…An amendment approved today would tweak rather than scrap the program, though it would allow New Hampshire to pull out if another state with at least 10 percent of the RGGI program’s total power generation does it first. Introduced by Senate Majority Leader Jeb Bradley (R), it would also shift money to a fund that offers efficiency incentives and would provide rebates to ratepayers for all but the first $1 that is paid for each carbon credit…Though a motion to withdraw from RGGI had 15 supporters in the Senate today, it fell one vote shy of the number needed to rebuff a veto.

What’s $90 million between friends? Uncle Sam provides guarantee for Colorado solar project Businessweek (5/11/11) reports: Energy Department officials say a North Carolina energy producer has been offered a $90.6 million conditional commitment loan guarantee to help construct a solar generation project in southern Colorado…Department officials said Tuesday the loan will support Charlotte-based Cogentrix Energy LLC in developing the Alamosa Solar Generating Project. The company estimates the project will generate about 85 construction and operations jobs…U.S. Sen. Mark Udall of Colorado says the plant will be one of the largest and most innovative solar power plants in the country. The facility will create about 75,000 megawatt hours of renewable energy per year, enough for more than 6,500 homes

This is what happens when you take too many right hooks to the head, you start thinking deductions are subsidies The Hill (5/9/11) reports: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) signaled Monday that the Senate would soon turn to a controversial piece of legislation to do away with billions of dollars in tax breaks for large oil producers and increase breaks for clean-energy producers…As Reid welcomed Sen. Dean Heller (R-Nev.) to the Senate Monday afternoon. he noted the upper chamber would soon have opportunities to “make tough choices” and referred to the upcoming energy legislation…”We’ll continue our conversation about how to save taxpayer money and lower our nation’s deficit,” Reid said….”We have to recognize that we cannot do either so long as we keep giving away money to oil companies who clearly don’t need taxpayer handouts,” Reid said. “As gas prices and oil company profits keep rising, each senator will soon have the opportunity to stand with millionaires or with the middle class.”

Solar energy rent seekers scramble to find new markets as Europe sobers up from their renewable binge Wall Street Journal (5/9/11) reports: First Solar is trying to gain access to China’s solar sector, as it and other producers are facing uncertainty over an expected fall-off in business in Europe, the world’s leading solar market…”[China Power International] has a tremendous advantage and strength in operating in China and we have a tremendous advantage and strength in technology but also in building utility systems,” said Kevin Berkemeyer, First Solar’s China representative. “So we really want to bring those two together.”..Under the agreement, the companies initially will explore opportunities within China, and First Solar will assist China Power to find investment opportunities in the U.S. and elsewhere, leveraging the Chinese company’s 2 gigawatts of projects planned for the domestic market and First Solar’s expertise and its 2.4-gigawatt business pipeline in North America…”We are very pleased to build an extensive and in-depth relationship with First Solar, a global leader in solar photovoltaic technology,” said Li Xiaolin, China Power International chairwoman. “This cooperation leverages our advantages in the domestic solar-power industry, and helps First Solar further expand its business presence in China.”

The Obama Administration shuts down American energy and conservatives are blamed for high gas prices Politico (5/9/11) reports: With oil companies such as ExxonMobil announcing a jump in profits of nearly 70 percent while gas prices are hovering around $4 a gallon, Republicans are trying to avoid any impression of defensiveness over their strong support for Big Oil. Most are not apologetic that they subsidize these corporations with their vast array of workers. But they have reason to be nervous…Many are now saying they do not support subsidies, while others assert that these help keep gas prices low and create U.S. jobs. But Republicans have reason to be nervous…This is a strong issue for Democrats. Voters are furious with oil companies, according to our polling, and overwhelmingly support ending subsidies. These subsidies are a key piece of a larger debate about the parties’ priorities, as we argued before. It can be viewed as part of the Republicans’ pattern of support for a budget that cuts taxes for corporations and the rich while ending Medicare as we know it and raising taxes on the middle class.

And again, I may become tall and good looking.  Why does this entire industry exist only in the subjunctive? E&E News (5/9/11) reports: The world could be drawing almost 80 percent of its energy from renewable sources by 2050, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change said in a report released today…Taking a broad view of renewable power — including not only wind, solar and geothermal power but also wood scavenged in the developing world — the report says renewables could constitute about 77 percent of all power generation, measured in exajoules per year, up from 13 percent…The 77 percent by 2050 estimate represents the report’s most optimistic scenario, assuming a host of policy changes by governments to put a stiff price on emissions of greenhouse gases and generous support for renewable generation…On the low end, the report says renewables might constitute just 15 percent of energy generation by 2050…”While the report concludes that the proportion of renewable energy will likely increase even without enabling policies, past experience has shown that the largest increases come with concerted policy efforts,” the report’s authors say in a release.

A man this eloquent should be President Las Vegas Review (5/8/11) reports: Our legislators, in all their perspicacity and foresight, have said, “Let there be renewable energy,” and gosh darn it, there will be renewable energy whether we need it or not and no matter the cost to the citizens of Nevada…It’s good for us, and we’re going to swallow a full dose of it and turn “green.”..Late last month the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada issued a draft order that concluded “renewable energy has had a minimal impact on residential rates and has not been the cause of high rates in Nevada.” Of course, as NV Energy pointed out in testimony, the data the PUC was using was historic — for only the past five years, as renewables or green energy such as solar, wind and geothermal were just coming onto the power grid. Various calculations placed the cost per month of renewables in 2009 for Southern Nevada ratepayers at somewhere between $1.86 and $2.30, which is up from 29 or 30 cents in 2005.

My gut tells me that locally grown organic tofu wasn’t served at his son’s wedding Washington Post (5/4/11) reports: Prince William’s dad — also known as Charles, the future king of England — knows a bit about taking verbal punches…Promoting sustainable farming and green living has been one of his life’s missions. But because he’s a royal with easy access to carbon-hogging jets, a handful of estates, flotillas of attendants and all sorts of resource-gobbling goodies, his oft-praised crusade tends to get lampooned with some frequency…“I have been venturing into extremely dangerous territory by speaking about the future of food,” the Prince of Wales told an audience Wednesday at Georgetown University, evoking an image that could just as easily apply to his efforts to promote reducing dependence on fossil fuels. “I have the scars to prove it!”

Gas consumption is down, but the grocery truck still needs to get to the store — buckle up for high gas prices Business Week (5/4/11) reports: Gasoline demand continues to fall in the U.S. as pump prices keep climbing…Reports from government and industry groups show motorists have been cutting back on the amount of gas they put into their tanks for more than a month. That could signal trouble for the economy since Americans typically cut spending on other activities before they do less driving…Since January, the national average for a gallon of regular unleaded has risen 91 cents, or 30 percent, to $3.98. The main reason is a 20 percent gain in the price of oil this year. Gas rose more than 30 cents in April alone, as refinery problems led to an unusually big drop in supplies…Gas is now above $4 per gallon in 13 states and Washington D.C.

My favorite part?  How almost all of the completed reviews were for categorical exclusions.  You know, the process the Obama Administration went out of its way to shut down in offshore permits E&E News (5/4/11) reports: Federal agencies continue to complete timely environmental reviews for stimulus-funded projects, filing more than 99 percent of the required National Environmental Policy Act reviews, according to the White House…The White House Council on Environmental Quality submitted its ninth report to Congress today on agencies’ compliance with NEPA, reporting that federal agencies had completed 190,000 of 190,694 required reviews…Agencies are required to conduct NEPA reviews for most of their decisions and actions, using the process to reveal any potential environmental impacts. Some reviews are more time-consuming than others. The vast majority of projects only require a “categorical exclusion” that indicates no environmental concerns; others must go through a thorough analysis with public comment.

High profile Brit enviro admits reality–the problem isn’t too little fossil fuels, but that we have too much… The Guardian (5/5/11) reports: You think you’re discussing technologies, and you quickly discover that you’re discussing belief systems. The battle among environmentalists over how or whether our future energy is supplied is a cipher for something much bigger: who we are, who we want to be, how we want society to evolve. Beside these concerns, technical matters – parts per million, costs per megawatt hour, cancers per sievert – carry little weight. We choose our technology – or absence of technology – according to a set of deep beliefs: beliefs that in some cases remain unexamined…The case against abandoning nuclear power, for example, is a simple one: it will be replaced either by fossil fuels or by renewables that would otherwise have replaced fossil fuels. In either circumstance, greenhouse gases, other forms of destruction and human deaths and injuries all rise…The case against reducing electricity supplies is just as clear. For example, the Zero Carbon Britain report published by the Centre for Alternative Technology urges a 55% cut in overall energy demand by 2030 – a goal I strongly support. It also envisages a near-doubling of electricity production. The reason is that the most viable means of decarbonising both transport and heating is to replace the fuels they use with low-carbon electricity. Cut the electricity supply and we’re stuck with oil and gas. If we close down nuclear plants, we must accept an even greater expansion of renewables than currently proposed. Given the tremendous public resistance to even a modest increase in windfarms and new power lines, that’s going to be tough.

Remember all those liars who said the new GHG regs would be no big deal? E&E News (5/4/11) reports: Two environmental groups have challenged the air pollution permit for a $750 million iron plant in southwestern Louisiana, which is the first project that was approved under the greenhouse gas regulations that were implemented by U.S. EPA in January…The petition, which was filed yesterday by the Sierra Club and the Louisiana Environmental Action Network, asks EPA to throw the brakes on a $3.4 billion complex being developed in southeastern Louisiana by Charlotte, N.C.-based Nucor Corp…The groups argue that when the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality signed off on a final permit for the direct reduced iron (DRI) plant in late January, it was required to combine the project with a pig iron plant that got approval from state regulators last year. Their petition also claims that the amount of greenhouse gases the plant would be allowed to release is “considerably higher” than it should be…Joanne Spalding, an attorney at the Sierra Club, said Nucor appears to have rushed the pig iron facility through the permitting process to avoid subjecting the higher-emitting plant to the new climate regulations. Though the permit could set a precedent because it is one of the first ones reviewed under the new climate regulations, the Sierra Club would have challenged the project anyway, she said.

This is very good news.  But the people who hate people (you know who we mean) are going to spin it as terrible news E&E News (5/3/11) reports: The world’s population will hit 7 billion this year and is expected to reach 10 billion over the next 90 years in a moderate scenario, U.N. demographers said today…Revising projected population growth rates for 2010, the United Nations’ Department of Economic and Social Affairs’ Population Division said the 7 billion milestone will likely be reached in October…The division’s long-term estimates assume that nations with high population growth rates will achieve lower fertility levels in coming decades, a phenomenon seen as the nations’ economies develop. If fertility rates hold steady, the world’s population could more than triple by 2100, U.N. officials warn…”If we assume that fertility does not decline … we would have a world population of almost 27 billion people by 2100,” researcher Gerhard Heilig said. “So this gives you a very important message: The topic of world population growth is not over yet.”…Population Division chief Hania Zlotnik said the world went from 5 billion to 6.9 billion “in record time” but has witnessed a steady decline in fertility rates through that period, with some of the most advanced nations having such low fertility that they will shrink over coming decades.

The military is entering the energy conversation, but they never ask these fundamental questions: compared to what and at what cost? New York Times (5/3/11) reports: So listen for a moment to two military strategists, working at the highest level of government, as they turn to the subject of leaky air-conditioners in government buildings in New York. “Poorly fitted air-conditioners cost New York City 130 to 180 million dollars a year in extra energy consumption,” one of the strategists, Capt. Wayne Porter of the Navy, said Tuesday. “They generate 370,525 extra tons of carbon dioxide.”…Suppose, he says, you fixed them. And then you got the 40 states that waste the most electricity to match the 10 most efficient. The likely benefits are no surprise — less foreign oil, cost savings, job creation, decreased pollution…Now follow that thread to “A National Strategic Narrative,” a paper written by Captain Porter and Col. Mark Mykleby of the Marines, which calls on the United States to see that it cannot continue to engage the world primarily with military force, but must do so as a nation powered by the strength of its educational system, social policies, international development and diplomacy, and its commitment to sustainable practices in energy and agriculture…“We must recognize that security means more than defense,” they write. After ending the 20th century as the world’s most powerful country, “we failed to recognize that dominance, like fossil fuel, is not a sustainable form of energy.”

Greenies dreams come true — man swaps diesel for ox power on his farm because of high-energy costs New York Times (5/4/5) reports: ON a sunny Sunday just before the vernal equinox, Rich Ciotola set out to clear a pasture strewn with fallen wood. The just-thawed field was spongy, with grass sprouting under tangled branches. Late March and early April are farm-prep time here in the Berkshires, time to gear up for the growing season. But while many farms were oiling and gassing up tractors, Mr. Ciotola was setting out to prepare a pasture using a tool so old it seems almost revolutionary: a team of oxen…Standing just inside the paddock at Moon in the Pond Farm, where he works, he put a rope around Lucas and Larson, his pair of Brown Swiss steer. He led them to the 20-pound maple yoke he had bought secondhand from another ox farmer, hoisted it over their necks and led them trundling through the fence so they could begin hauling fallen logs.

The Grand Plan: Under President Obama’s direction, energy prices have ‘necessarily skyrocketed’ and now consumers must shift towards smaller cars Fuel Fix (5/4/11) reports: The nation’s reviving economy and near-record gasoline prices sent Americans to showrooms to buy fuel-efficient vehicles in April, giving automakers’ sales a boost…General Motors Co.’s sales rose 26 percent in April compared with the same month a year ago. Sales of 232,538 vehicles were led by its fuel-sipping Chevrolet Cruze, which enjoyed retail sales 180 percent higher than the Chevrolet Cobalt it replaced…Ford Motor Co. logged a 13 percent increase in April, selling 189,778 units, aided by sales of its new Focus and Fiesta cars…Toyota Motor Co. posted the smallest gain of major automakers, with sales rising 1.3 percent on sales of 159,540 vehicles. April marked the first full month for sales since the March 11 earthquake and tsunami hit Japan and damaged manufacturing plants and suppliers’ factories.

What’s in a name? Greenies are shocked to learn that rare earth metals are rare and they are going to become much rarer with one million electric vehicles on the road New York Times(5/2/11) reports: Rare earth prices are reaching rarefied heights.World prices have doubled in the last four months for rare earths — metallic elements needed for many of the most sophisticated civilian and military technologies, whether smartphones or smart bombs… Toyota has been raising prices for the Prius, but has cited demand for the car and economic conditions. While acknowledging that rising prices for raw materials in general have affected the company’s overall financial results, Toyota has declined to provide a breakdown of the role of rare earths…And this year’s increases come atop price gains of as much as fourfold during 2010…The reason is basic economics: demand continues to outstrip efforts to expand supplies and break China’s chokehold on the market…Neodymium, a rare earth necessary for a range of products including headphones and hybrid electric cars, now fetches more than $283 a kilogram ($129 a pound) on the spot market. A year ago it sold for about $42 a kilogram ($19 a pound)…Samarium, crucial to the manufacture of missiles, has climbed to more than $146 a kilogram, up from $18.50 a year earlier…One exception is the Toyota Prius hybrid car, whose manufacture uses a kilogram of neodymium.

I wonder if Senator Levin realizes that gasoline fuels the cars that his state makes? The Hill(5/3/11) reports: A senior Senate Democrat who has pushed to repeal oil industry tax breaks believes the success of renewed efforts to strip the incentives rests on how much muscle the White House puts behind them…Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) sponsored the most recent plan to come up for a Senate vote – an amendment that failed 44-54 in early February. But Democrats plan to take another shot in coming weeks, even though they face an uphill battle…“It depends on whether the president really weighs in heavily. At least it depends in part on it,” Levin said in the Capitol Monday when asked whether there will be enough support to pass a repeal. He noted that President Obama favors ending the incentives…Obama and Senate Democrats who favor stripping the incentives have pounced on high gasoline prices and high profits reported by companies including Exxon and Shell to call for another vote – and try to politically tether Republicans to oil companies…Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) on Monday named the issue among his priority items for the upcoming several weeks before the Memorial Day recess.

Energy states fall back on the ‘safety in numbers’ adage by forming a coalition to lobby Congress for offshore permits Houston Chronicle (5/2/11) reports: Governors from Alaska and states bordering the Gulf of Mexico are reaching out to their counterparts along the West and East Coast today in a bid to get them more involved in decisions about energy production offshore…The push for a new Outer Continental Shelf Governors Coalition is led by four governors who know a little something about oil and gas production offshore: Rick Perry of Texas, Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, Haley Barbour of Mississippi and Sean Parnell of Alaska…In an invitation to other coastal state governors, the foursome said they hoped the coalition would “foster an appropriate dialogue between the coastal states and the administration” about offshore drilling. The group would give the governors a vehicle to lobby for expanded drilling offshore…“All federal decisions regarding exploration and production must be made in consultation with affected states,” the four governors said. “In recent months, however, the federal government has taken sweeping actions regarding offshore oil

Good night and good luck: Germany swaps out nuclear for wind energy UPI (5/2/11) reports: German Chancellor Angela Merkel Monday inaugurated Germany’s first commercial offshore wind farm…Wearing a shiny blue blazer, Merkel, flanked by a state senator and the head of German utility EnBW, pushed a button to officially launch Baltic 1, a 50-megawatt wind farm of 21 Siemens turbines that produce power for around 50,000 households…Located around 10 miles north of the Darss Peninsula in the Baltic Sea, the farm is operated by EnBW and is to be the first of many commercial wind farms off the German coastlines…”We’re in uncharted territory with the offshore technology, so let us learn together,” Merkel, who had flown over the farm in a helicopter, was quoted as saying by her spokesman Steffen Seibert…The head of the renewable energy unit at German technology giant Siemens, Rene Umlauft, called Baltic 1 a major milestone for Germany’s offshore wind power generation.

Odd article in Forbes this morning where the author needs reminding that money does not belong to the U.S. Treasury, but to the people Forbes (5/3/11) reports: Although the president hopes to eliminate eight specific tax breaks–which cost the Treasury $43.6 billion over 10 years–only three, accounting for $31.9 billion of that total, are particularly important. Conservatives have no business defending any of them…The largest tax break at issue is a tax credit passed in 2005, which is available to all U.S. manufacturers. Oil and gas companies qualify for that credit, so they will likely deduct somewhere in the neighborhood of $18.3 billion from their tax bill over the next 10 years. Note that this isn’t really an “oil subsidy”; it’s a manufacturing subsidy that oil and gas companies–along with many other companies–enjoy… ast week President Barack Obama responded to rising public anger over soaring gasoline prices by banging the drums for the elimination of various tax breaks enjoyed by the oil and gas industry. Although House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, initially suggested that he might be open to President Obama’s proposal, the House GOP leadership chose to answer the president’s weekly radio address–which advocated elimination of those tax breaks–with freshman Tea Party Congressman James Lankford, R-Okla., who charged that the plan was about “hiking taxes by billions of dollars.”

Shell Oil Company could fuel 25 million cars for 35 years by drilling in the Arctic, but big green and big government have other plans New York Times (5/1/11) reports: Shell Oil will present an ambitious proposal to the federal government this week, seeking permission to drill up to 10 exploratory oil wells beneath Alaska’s frigid Arctic waters… The forbidding ice-clogged region is believed to hold vast reserves of oil, potentially enough to fuel 25 million cars for 35 years. And with production in Alaska’s North Slope in steep decline, the oil industry is eager to tap new offshore wells…Shell has led the way, working for five years to convince regulators, environmentalists, Native Alaskans and several courts that it could manage the process safely, protect polar bears and other wildlife, safeguard air quality for residents and respond quickly to any spill in the region. But BP’s Deepwater Horizon disaster a year ago put a chill on new offshore drilling…Shell’s renewed application will pose a test for President Obama, who promised to put safety first after the BP spill. But he has also reiterated his support for offshore drilling amid voter worries about rising gasoline prices.

Lawyer Up: Western Energy Alliance files suit against the Department of Interior for being derelict in their responsibilities with regards to oil and gas permits. Read the brief here.

The plan we can all get behind: Obama wants to emulate Spain’s green jobs program. We are almost half way there — Spain announces 21% unemployment CNN (4/29/11) reports: Spain’s unemployment rate rose nearly a point to 21.29%, with 4.9 million jobless for the first quarter of 2011, the government reported Friday, as the prolonged economic crisis continues to squeeze the nation…Some analysts had predicted the number of jobless might surpass 5 million. But while that didn’t happen, the latest statistics were another blow to the economy and to the embattled socialist government…The numbers for the fourth quarter of 2010 — 20.33% unemployment and almost 4.7 million jobless — already represented the highest joblessness rate in 13 years…The latest numbers, for the first quarter of this year, added more somber news. The number of unemployed increased by 213,000, pushing the overall number to 4.9 million…All major sectors — industry, construction, services and agriculture — shed jobs during the quarter. The number of Spanish households in which no adult had a job increased by 58,000, to a new total of 1.38 million, the government said…Earlier this month, embattled Socialist Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero announced he would not seek a third term. Elections are due by March 2012.

It’s the ethanol, stupid. CEO of major pork producer explains in simple terms that ethanol is making food more expensive Wall Street Journal (4/30/11) reports: Mr. Pope is the chief executive officer of Smithfield Foods Inc., the world’s largest pork processor and hog producer by volume. He doesn’t mince words when it comes to rapidly rising food prices. The 56-year-old accountant by training has been in the business for more than three decades, and he warns that the higher costs may be here to stay…Courtesy of? “I’m not going to say, ‘a political policy,'” he tells me. (His senior vice president, a lawyer by training, sits close by, ready to “kick his leg” if his garrulous boss speaks too plainly.) But politics indeed plays a large role, as Congress subsidizes favorite industries and the Federal Reserve pursues an expansive monetary policy… What triggered the upswing? In part: ethanol. President George W. Bush “came forward with—what do you call?—the edict that we were going to mandate 36 billion gallons of alternative fuels” by 2022, of which corn-based ethanol is “a substantial part.” Companies that blend ethanol into fuel get a $5 billion annual tax credit, and there’s a tariff to keep foreign producers out of the U.S. market. Now 40% of the corn crop is “directed to ethanol, which equals the amount that’s going into livestock food,” Mr. Pope calculates.

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Fool me with wind energy and I must be out of my mind Telegraph (4/30/11) reports: The payments, worth up to 20 times the value of the power they would have produced, raises serious concerns about such subsidies, which are paid for by the customer…The six Scottish wind farms were asked to stop producing electricity on a particularly windy night last month as the National Grid was overloaded…Their transition cables do not have the capacity to transfer the power to England and so they were switched off and the operators received compensation. One operator received £312,000, while another benefited by £263,000…The payments were discovered by the Renewable Energy Foundation, a green think tank, which accused the Government of building too many wind farms in northern Britain.

There’s an app for that — Al Gore launches new climate app for the iphone and ipad Time (5/1/1) reports: No, Al Gore did not invent the Internet, but the former Vice President and Nobel Peace Prize winner has always has a hand in high-tech, even as he warned the world about global warming. Those two interests are intersecting with the release of a new iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch app version of his recent climate and energy book Our Choice. The app is one of the first truly multimedia e-books, with interactive graphics, video, photos with geolocation and narration by Gore himself. Gore sat down with TIME’s Bryan Walsh in the New York offices of Gore’s firm Generation Investment to talk about the Our Choice app, the state of the climate movement and post-truth politics…Q: Does the app get you a new audience for the book?..A: Yes it does. We live in a multi-platform world. I think that the app experience is a magical one that will give it a lot of velocity as a media form because it combines books, movies, audio, animation and interactive features. There is nothing between you and the content, and there is no computer hurdle to clear. You just touch it with your finger, blow on it and manipulate it. It’s very intuitive.

Somebody gets the whole idea of subsidies . . . E&E News (4/26/11) reports: House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) today said that he could support eliminating subsidies for major oil companies “in a broader, broader sense” as part of a tax reform effort that would close loopholes while lowering overall rates…Pressed by Fox News on the apparent support for a rollback of oil industry tax benefits that Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) offered Monday, Cantor sought to reboot the politically volatile debate by putting it in the context of corporate tax reform — a top priority for both parties ahead of high-stakes spending and deficit talks…Asked by Fox News if he supported “taking away the subsidies,” as pitched by Democrats and President Obama, Cantor replied: “I support doing so in a broader, broader sense, OK?”…”I’m saying that the tax code, as it stands now, has failed,” Cantor added. “We need to go about broadening the tax code, getting rid of loopholes, special interest loopholes. If you characterize this as that, fine.”

Today’s lesson in monetary policy for Treasury Secretary Geithner: a weak dollar means higher oil prices CNBC (4/28/11) reports: Oil prices slid from earlier highs on Thursday as prospects for slower growth in the world’s top economy dampened sentiment, outweighing a sliding dollar and signs of lower North Sea supplies…”I think there are some concerns about how the US GDP will come out for Q1. The dollar is still weak, while oil is falling, so I think it’s demand driven. It’s the uncertainty about the demand from the U.S.,” said oil analyst Thorbjorn Bak Jensen at Global Risk Management…Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said on Wednesday the US labour market was still in a “very, very deep hole” and opted to keep interest rates unchanged, lowering expectations for growth prospects and fuel demand.

Supply follows demand, but the price is the gatekeeper of the free market Reuters (4/27/11) reports: Russia, the world’s largest oil producer, faces a regional fuel supply crisis that could quickly spread after an order by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin to curb domestic pump prices led oil firms to increase export volumes…Shortages that have been building since Putin told oil firms in February to restrain retail prices came to a head last weekend, when almost all independently owned gasoline stations in the Altai region ran out of fuel…If they spread, the shortages could eventually hurt the popularity of Putin, who as the head of the government bears direct responsibility for economic policy, months before a presidential election which is due next March…Motorists in Altai, a Siberian region to the north of Kazakhstan, are now queuing in long lines at stations belonging to major oil companies, primarily Rosneft (ROSN.MM) and Gazprom Neft (SIBN.MM), which are still selling fuel…”Today our drivers have been arriving late to pick up clients because it’s so difficult to find a petrol station with fuel,” Yelena, a taxi dispatcher in the nearby city of Novosibirsk, told Reuters by telephone on Wednesday.

Remedy for high gas prices? Increase taxes. I guess you don’t have to fill up your tank if all you do is walk across the student quad to get to work New York Times (4/28/11) reports: Gasoline prices are above $4 per gallon in much of the country, a reminder that our dependence on oil carries a great cost. President Obama has promised that the Justice Department will be vigilant in pursuing price-gouging at the pump, but what we really need is to address the full set of energy-related problems, with a focus on spurring clean energy innovation…Our trade deficit arises in large measure from the hundreds of billions of dollars we pay for foreign oil. The imbalances threaten America’s economic stability and national security. Our consumption of fossil fuels and our energy inefficiency are a drag on our competitiveness and increase air pollution and the threat of climate change…To compete globally, we need to encourage clean energy innovation while letting the market decide which particular technologies prevail. Experience in fields like information technology and telecommunications suggests that creating demand for innovation is far more effective than subsidizing company-specific research projects or providing incentives for particular technologies. Governments just aren’t good at picking winners; witness the billions wasted on corn-based ethanol subsidies.

IER’s Dan Kish calls chicken shit when he see’s it Daily Caller (4/26/11) reports: Seizing upon comments made this week by House Speaker John Boehner that Congress should “be looking into” quelling subsidies for oil and gas companies, President Obama sent a letter to House and Senate leaders urging them to pass his proposal to end tax credits for oil companies and transfer them to other companies that produce energy through other means…Daniel Kish, senior vice president for policy at the Institute for Energy Research, an oil industry think tank, said Obama has long supported policies that would increase the price of oil, including limits on oil production in the United States, and is now pointing fingers at the oil companies for high gas prices…“Now that his plan is bearing expensive fruit Americans don’t like, his attempt to shift blame away from his actions is pathetically akin to what we would expect from Hugo Chavez or some other third world populist.  His chickens are coming home to roost,” Kish said.

Greenies must own stock in big oil because they keep driving up the price CNBC (4/26/11) reports: What’s good for Big Oil is good for America Or at least that’s the message from Big Oil this week, as five major oil companies prepare to unveil quarterly earnings numbers that are expected to show major profits at a time when Americans are facing rising gas prices at the pump…But the Obama administration has another take: If the oil companies are doing so well, maybe they ought to give up about $44 billion worth of federal subsidies over the next ten years…President Obama ratcheted up his push Tuesday with a letter to Republican and Democratic congressional leaders asking them to remove the subsidies…”Our outdated tax laws currently provide the oil and gas industry more than $4 billion per year in these subsidies, even though oil prices are high and the industry is projected to report outsized profits this quarter,” Obama said…The Obama administration now has an unlikely potential ally on that front: Republican House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio, who said this week that he’s open to reexamining the oil company subsidies even if he’s not ready to commit to axing them just yet.

What Boehner should have said: let’s end all energy subsidies The Hill (4/26/11) reports: White House economic adviser Gene Sperling made the case Tuesday for eliminating a series of oil industry tax breaks, part of a ramped-up push by the administration to focus on the issue in light of rising gas prices…“At a time when we are asking our entire country to engage in shared sacrifice, we have to ask ourselves whether we can still afford $43 billion over 10 years on subsidies that do not seem to be efficient or needed or consistent with our G20 commitments and obligations,” Sperling said during an energy conference on Washington on Tuesday afternoon…Sperling’s comments came about an hour after President Obama sent a letter to congressional leaders calling for quick passage of legislation eliminating the tax breaks…The White House is hoping to capitalize on remarks by Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) Monday in which he appeared to open the door to supporting the elimination of the tax breaks. Boehner said he may be open to cutting the tax breaks for some of the larger oil companies.

Turns out Moses did not lead the Israelis to the only place in the Middle East without oil — oil shale deposits could make Israel energy independent Reuters (4/27/11) reports: A subsidiary of U.S.-firm IDT Energy (IDT.N) is leading a push in Israel to tap into the country’s vast deposits of oil shale…The company, Israel Energy Initiatives (IEI), has already invested “tens of millions of dollars” in preparing a pilot project it hopes to launch by the end of 2011, CEO Relik Shafir told Reuters…”If successful, in a few years IEI could start producing 50,000 barrels of oil a day, or 20 percent of Israel’s consumption, for 30 years,” Shafir said…The division of IDT that owns IEI is called Genie Energy, and it has already brought investments from financier Jacob Rothschild and media mogul Rupert Murdoch. Together they own a 5.5 percent stake worth $11 million, according to a company statement from November…Murdoch, upon joining Genie Energy’s advisory board last year, said the group would “spur a global, geo-political paradigm shift by moving a major portion of new oil production to America, Israel and other Western-oriented democracies.”

Two cheers for Florida taxpayers — solar and biomass energy producers mourn the death of their rent seeking bill Miami Herald (4/27/11) reports: Solar and biomass energy companies mourned the loss of a sure job development opportunity Tuesday as the state Senate’s budget chief put a spear through a bill to spur renewable energy in Florida…“I’d pronounce that one dead,’’ said Sen. J.D. Alexander, R-Lake Wales, chairman of the Senate Budget Committee after he indefinitely postponed a bill that would have allowed Florida’s largest electric companies to raise electric rates as much as $375 million a year for five years to develop alternative energy…”I think it’s a terrible idea,’’ said Alexander, a citrus grower. “I can’t believe we’d ask Florida to pay $1 billion in additional assessments with zero regulatory oversight. I think that’s fundamentally not right.”…This is the third year the bill has been the priority of Florida Power & Light, and it is the third time the bill has died. The only thing new this year is that the Koch brothers-backed Americans For Prosperity joined in the chorus of opponents to argue against the bill

In the natural gas debate, check your emotional baggage at the door — we’ve been fracking for over 60 years and the only byproduct is cheap energy New York Times (4/23/11) reports: Texans pride themselves on being the heart of the nation’s oil and gas business. But even here, public concern about natural gas drilling is growing… On Wednesday, several dozen protesters marched through downtown Fort Worth, waving signs and chanting anti-drilling slogans that reflected concern over air and water pollution…The anxiety centers on a recently expanded drilling method called hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, which is now used in more than half of new gas wells drilled in Texas. This practice — which involves blasting water, sand and chemicals far underground to break up rock and extract gas — is common in the Barnett Shale, a major shale-gas field around Fort Worth…“It’s our health that’s at stake,” said Dana Schultes, who lives in south Fort Worth and worries about the impact of the drilling on her young daughter…The protest, organized by the group Rising Tide North Texas, is the latest sign of a backlash against drilling in Texas. Yard signs saying “Get the Frack Out of Here” and “Protect Our Kids/No Drilling” have appeared in some yards in Southlake, a Dallas suburb. A few communities have declared a temporary moratorium on drilling permits, and Dallas set up a task force last week to examine drilling regulations within its city limits.

Obama says there’s “no silver” bullet for high gas prices and he’s right, all you need to do is open up federal lands for energy exploration. To calm Obama’s fear, he can read IER’s report The Hill (4/23/11) reports:  President Obama said Saturday there are no easy answers for lowering gas prices, which are hovering around $4 a gallon, and criticized politicians who push plans to immediately reduce the price of gas…”You see people trying to grab headlines or score a few points,” Obama said in his weekly address. “The truth is, there’s no silver bullet that can bring down gas prices right away.”…According to AAA’s tracking, the national average price for a gallon of regular gas is $3.86, which is 4 cents per gallon more than a week ago and nearly $1 more than a year ago… The president laid out his own plan for controlling prices, focusing on ending price gouging but calling for an end to the $4 billion in federal subsidies for oil and gas firms…He said there are some steps the U.S. can take to improve the situation such as ramping up domestic oil production and ending subsidies for oil and gas firms.

An enviros heart just skipped a beat: New report argues that more wind and solar energy means more coal and nuclear because renewables are unstable E&E News (4/25/11) reports: The growth of U.S. wind power has begun to create operating challenges for nuclear and coal plants that must be ramped up and down as wind speeds vary, panelists at a Massachusetts Institute of Technology energy conference reported last week…The MIT Energy Initiative symposium on integrating large-scale wind and solar power attracted executives of utility and transmission companies, senior government officials and academic researchers, whose comments were off the record. Some papers prepared for the conference were made public by their authors, and they define a growing challenge of matching the current U.S. mix of power plants with new requirements to respond quickly to changes in wind and solar resources…”The power system needs more flexibility to handle the short-term effects of increasing levels of wind,” said Ignacio Pérez-Arriaga, a professor at Spain’s Comillas University and a visiting professor at MIT…He and other speakers predicted the expansion of renewable power will continue as a clear option for reducing power plant carbon emissions. Nearly half of global electricity supply will have to come from renewable sources if world carbon dioxide emissions are to be cut to half of current levels by 2050, according to the International Energy Agency, he noted.

Step one: make energy prices necessarily skyrocket. Step two: demonize energy companies for the price increases The Hill (4/23/11) reports: The White House has joined congressional Democrats in targeting oil companies with criticism for nearly $4 per gallon gas…President Obama lashed out at oil companies — and the tax breaks they get from the government — for a second consecutive day on Thursday and again in Saturday’s address…“Four billion dollars of your money are going to these companies at a time when they’re making record profits and you’re paying near record prices at the pump,” the president said at a Nevada town hall. “It has to stop.”…Obama also announced a Justice Department task force that will probe whether speculators and traders are to blame for the high prices. A spokesman for Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) on Friday criticized the effort as an attempt to deflect attention from White House and Democratic opposition to increased drilling in the United States…Going after oil companies is smart politics for Obama, according to polls and Democratic strategists.

IER’s American Energy Act is written up Clean Energy Report (4/20/11) reports: The Institute for Energy Research (IER) — a Washington, DC-based think tank that advocates a hands-off government approach to energy policy — is circulating model legislation that offers a litany of proposals to streamline and accelerate permitting for oil, gas, and renewable energy projects by scaling back numerous EPA and other federal agency authorities…While many of the provisions in the bill appear unlikely to fly on Capitol Hill or at White House, the package could provide fodder for GOP lawmakers seeking to blame government regulations for stalled domestic energy projects and high energy prices…The model legislation — the American Energy Act of 2011 — creates a fast track for projects defined as “priority energy projects” — defined as any project that boosts the U.S. supply of domestic energy. The fast track provisions call for making the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) the lead agency for projects that cross agency jurisdictions, according to a summary.

Let’s compete with China: Beijing wants to emulate the U.S. success with fracking because they need cheap energy MSNBC (4/25/11) reports: China has spent tens of billions of dollars buying into energy resources from Africa to Latin America to slake the unquenched thirst for fuel from its growing industry and burgeoning cities…But China may have more energy riches under its own soil than policy makers in the world’s second-largest economy ever dared imagine…Just over a year ago, Beijing awakened to a technology revolution that has unlocked massive reserves of gas trapped within shale rock formations in the United States…Once deemed too costly to extract, shale gas has turned around U.S. dependence on foreign gas imports. Just a few years ago, the United States was building scores of expensive facilities to import liquefied natural gas (LNG), looking at booming long-term demand forecasts and wondering which countries would supply the huge volume of imports it needed…Instead, the United States is turning import facilities into export terminals, because its shale gas reserves are estimated to be big enough to meet domestic demand for 30 years. This is an American dream that China wants to emulate…”America’s shale gas production alone has exceeded that of total Chinese gas output. That gives us a lot of confidence,” said Zhang Dawei, deputy director of the Strategic Research Center for Oil and Gas in the Ministry of Land and Resources(MLR).

Happy Lenin’s Birthday…err Happy Earth Day! Also, this man only weighs the negative externalities without mentioning the benefits of energy Time(4/21/11) reports: It’s Earth Day today—the 41st one—and it comes at a time when we’ve all been made aware of the environmental cost of the energy we use.  The BP oil spill caused ecological damage that scientists will study for years, and the partial nuclear meltdown at Fukushima may render large parts of the surrounding area uninhabitable. Coal and other fossil fuels continue to blacken the sky and warm the climate, and even natural gas—seen as a greener bridge fuel—has experienced recent accidents, with a major well blowout occurring this week in Pennsylvania. Alternatives like solar and wind are growing, but there are even environmental and quality of life complaints about renewable power as well…In fact, the blood cost is another way to calculate the energy equation: blood per kilowatt. Mark Fulton, the managing director and global head of Climate Change Investment Research at DB Climate Change Advisors, introduced me to the concept at the Fortune Brainstorm Green conference earlier this month. When we evaluate different forms of energy, we shouldn’t only take into account the financial price or even just the environmental cost, but the damage to human health and well-being as well.

Obama directs his DOJ to investigate gas price gouging. What’s he going do when they discover Salazar and Bromwich are tops on the list? Wall Street Journal (4/21/11) reports: President Barack Obama Thursday shifted his focus back to an issue that is increasingly vexing consumers: Rising gas prices…At Mr. Obama’s request, the Justice Department announced Thursday that it has created a task force to investigate the oil and gas markets, a move some Democrats in Congress have advocated. “The attorney general is putting together a team whose job it is to root out any cases of fraud or manipulation in the oil markets that might affect gas prices, and that includes the role of traders and speculators,” Mr. Obama said during a town hall event at a renewable energy company in Nevada. “We’re going to make sure that nobody’s taking advantage of American consumers for their own short-term gains.”…The White House has been wringing its hands over rising pump prices in recent weeks, even as Mr. Obama was preoccupied by the budget battle with House Republicans. Mr. Obama’s approval ratings have dipped in tandem with consumers’ rising irritation at their increasing outlays for fuel. Higher gas prices and other commodities have been fueling inflation-on an annual basis, consumer prices were up 2.7% in March, the highest level since December 2009, the Labor Department said earlier this month.

Friend of the cause Steven Hayward highlights the fact that coal use is up and sulfur dioxide emission are down — eat your hearts out greenies The American (4/20/11) reports: Since it’s Earth Day this Friday, it’s worth having a look at one especially instructive energy-pollution linkage—in this case, the trend in the amount of coal used to generate electricity and in other industrial processes, and sulfur dioxide emissions from that use of coal…As the figure below shows, the amount of coal used in the United States has more than tripled since 1970 (up 225 percent); as mentioned here previously, we moved heavily to coal starting in the late 1970s as a means to discontinue using imported oil to generate electricity. But over this same time period, sulfur dioxide emissions from coal have declined by 54 percent. Moreover, the Environmental Protection Agency projects a further 50 percent decline in SO2 emissions from current levels over the next 25 years, as shown in the second figure below.

I’m from the government and I’m here to help…study finds that CFLs emit cancer causing chemicals when used Telegraph (4/20/11) reports: Their report advises that the bulbs should not be left on for extended periods, particularly near someone’s head, as they emit poisonous materials when switched on…Peter Braun, who carried out the tests at the Berlin’s Alab Laboratory, said: “For such carcinogenic substances it is important they are kept as far away as possible from the human environment.”…The bulbs are already widely used in the UK following EU direction to phase out traditional incandescent lighting by the end of this year…But the German scientists claimed that several carcinogenic chemicals and toxins were released when the environmentally-friendly compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) were switched on, including phenol, naphthalene and styrene.

Senator Murkowski reconnects with her supply side Washington Post (4/21/11) reports: With gasoline prices in many areas above $4 a gallon, energy concerns are once again making headlines. Prices have more than doubled since the start of 2009 and are projected to remain at excruciating levels for the foreseeable future…We know from experience that high energy prices harm American families and businesses. Aside from pain at the pump, it’s harder to balance budgets or even buy groceries when transportation costs soar. Many experts have concluded that if prices remain high, economic growth will languish. At stake is our fragile recovery from the recent recession…High energy prices therefore demand a strong policy response. For years, however, federal lawmakers have routinely ignored the supply side of the equation and the fact that — if we chose to — we could absolutely produce more oil here in America.

The market has spoken: Americans will not pay a premium for green New York Times (4/21/11) reports: When Clorox introduced Green Works, its environment-friendly cleaning line, in 2008, it secured an endorsement from the Sierra Club, a nationwide introduction at Wal-Mart, and it vowed that the products would “move natural cleaning into the mainstream.”.. Sales that year topped $100 million, and several other major consumer products companies came out with their own “green” cleaning supplies…But America’s eco-consciousness, it turns out, is fickle. As recession gripped the country, the consumer’s love affair with green products, from recycled toilet paper to organic foods to hybrid cars, faded like a bad infatuation. While farmers’ markets and Prius sales are humming along now, household product makers like Clorox just can’t seem to persuade mainstream customers to buy green again.